Microsoft is running as fast as it can to patch up its patent agreements with Linux vendors to thwart any possible impact from the GPLv3.
On the heels of repudiating any Novell Linux products covered by the GPLv3, Microsoft is taking a similar tack with Linspire, another of the Linux distribution vendors which inked a patent-protection/interoperability contract with Microsoft.
Microsoft announced the signing of a patent-protection deal with Linspire on June 13. The deal also went beyond patent-protection to include various interoperability provisions. But like all of Microsoft’s agreements with Linux distro vendors, the crux of the Linspire deal was/is patent protection.